US Congress avoids government shutdown in last-minute deal
US Congress avoids government shutdown in last-minute deal
Lawmakers pass a bill to keep the government funded for 45 days, but with no aid for Ukraine.
It's always last minute.
Yup, as will the next one in 45 days.
Right, headline should be "Congress delays shutdown for 45 days".
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But in a dramatic turnaround on Saturday afternoon, House Republicans scrambled to pass a temporary funding measure that would keep the government open for 45 more days and make no major concessions on spending levels.
However, with a majority of lawmakers keen to avert a shutdown, one of the faction's key demands - no more US funding for Ukraine's defence against its invasion by Russia - is reflected in the bill.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy had been extremely reluctant to rely on Democratic votes to pass the House's bill until the last minute, given this would anger these hard-line conservative members of his party.
They - and Republicans who also support more Ukraine money - will keep pressing for more funding, but officials in President Joe Biden's administration have warned that, in the short term, there could be disruption to the Ukrainian war effort.
As House Democrats complained that they were unable to read Republicans' latest offer before voting on it, one - Jamaal Bowman of New York - appeared to have pulled a fire alarm in one building to buy more time.
His counterpart, Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, argued his party had bailed out Republicans following "a complete and total surrender to right-wing extremists who throughout the year have tried to hijack the Congress".
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